The Germanic
tribes seem to have originated in a homeland in southern
Scandinavia
(Sweden and
Norway, with the Jutland
area of northern Denmark,
along with a very narrow strip of Baltic coastline). They had been settled
here for over two thousand years following the
Indo-European
migrations. The Germanic ethnic group began as a division of the
western edge of late proto-Indo-European dialects around 3300 BC,
splitting away from a general westwards migration to head towards
the southern coastline of the Baltic Sea. By the time the Germanic
tribes were becoming key players in the politics of Western
Europe
in the last two centuries BC, the previously dominant
Celts were on
the verge of being conquered and dominated by
Rome. They
had already been pushed out of northern and central Europe by
a mass of Germanic tribes which were steadily carving out a
new homeland.

The East Germanic Goths were one of the first of the Germanic
tribes to form a recognised kingdom, although little contemporary
information exists to describe either it or their migrations
other than brief mentions by
Roman writers.
According to their own traditions, the Goths originated in a
land called Scandza, identified as southern Scandinavia (modern
Sweden). Population pressure caused them to move en masse
towards the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in the first century
AD, to a land which they named 'Gothiscandza' (the same
circumstances repeated themselves in the fifth century with the
Danish migration). There is some general archaeological evidence
to support the traditional Gothic origin story, but the best source
of written information on the early Goths is the sixth century
Byzantine historian,
Jordanes. His work is thought to be unreliable to an extent and
must be viewed with care, but the core story of the Goths' origins
is generally accepted. Once out of Scandinavia and on the Baltic
coastline of northern
Germany
and Poland,
they appear to have settled between the Oder and Vistula, before
beginning a slow, steady drift into
Ukraine, or Scythia
as it was known to the ancients.

Jordanes
stated that, according to Dio, the Goths were ever wiser than other
barbarians and were nearly like the Greeks (although this would have
been after their settling on the Black Sea coast). It is possible
that this statement is the exact truth, as the name of the tribe has
a common origin with the name of a god - Wotan or Wodan - and with
the word 'god' itself. The original Indo-European root of all three
means magic, incantation, or magician, depending on modifiers. Only a
few names are known for the early kings, although even these are thought
by many scholars to be later inventions by Jordanes. Mierow supplies
dates for some of them although these do not seem to be repeated
elsewhere. Apparently, those of noble birth amongst the Goths, from
whom their kings and priests were appointed, were first known as
Tarabostesei and then as Pilleati. The word 'tarabostesei' with its
suffixes removed leaves 'tarabost'. The first part, 'tara' can have
several meanings, including 'bull' or 'fast'; but more telling is
the second half, 'bost'. It means 'hand' or 'fist'. The language
is Celtic, so it is not a Gothic title or else it would be in their
East German dialect. Pilleati is also not in East German - it appears
to be Latin. If Goths had a tradition of honouring knowledge, their
adoption of learning from other cultures would also have resulted
in many words being adopted into the Gothic language.

The Goths were constantly attended by a subject tribe, the
Heruli (who later
emerged in Italy as
part of the Gothic
kingdom of Rome), and to an extent by the
Scirii also. In their
earliest stages, in Scandinavia, the Goths have been identified by
some as the Geats
of Beowulf, but this seems to rely solely on incorrect dating
for the events of the poem. Given that the Goths seem to have exhibited
external influences, Edward Dawson considers there to be a distinct
possibility that the Goth name emerged as a result of Gaulish (Celtic)
influence on a tribal name which derived from Woden/Wodan (the god
rather than the Anglian
king, not necessarily one and the same thing). The use of Godan
instead of Wodan by the
Langobard tribe is
very tantalising, given the known tendency of Gaulish to convert a
'w' into a 'gw' or 'gu' sound. It appears that Wodan (Odin), Goth,
and God are cognates.

Not
all Goths migrated into Continental Europe. Some elements clearly
remained behind, or at least were influential enough to leave their
name behind. Both Old Norse and Old English records clearly separate
the Geats from the Goths, but they are still depicted as being closely
related to each other, and perhaps may have shared a common origin.
The Swedish counties of Västergötland and Östergötland remember the
Geats and Goths, while the Norse kingdom of Vingulmark seems to remember
the Vinguligoth of
Jordanes. This group have also been linked to the first century
Reudigni of Tacitus.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward
Dawson, from The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, Jordanes (Dodo
Press - and C C Mierow supplies a different translation from this version
alongside some dates for early kings), from the Complete Works of
Tacitus, Alfred John Church, William Jackson Brodribb, & Lisa
Cerrato, from De situ orbis libri III, Pomponius Mela, from
Historia naturalis, Pliny the Elder, from On the Ocean,
Pytheas of Massalia (work lost, but frequently quoted by other ancient
authors), from Geography, Ptolemy, and from External
Links: Geography, Strabo (H C Hamilton & W Falconer,
London, 1903,
Perseus Online Edition), and
GEN-MEDIEVAL Archives (Rootsweb Ancestry.com, and
The Herulli/Herulf possibly the ancestors of the Icelanders
(Christogenea Christian Identity Forum).)

c.325 BC

As
reported much later by Pliny the Elder, around this time Pytheas of
Massalia undertakes a voyage of exploration to north-western Europe,
becoming the first scholar to note details about the
Celtic and
Germanic tribes
there. One of the tribes he records is the Guttonibus of Thule
(nominative Guttones) - in other words the Goths. Thule is generally
thought of today as being
Norway, but has also
been attributed to locations between Greenland and Saaremaa
(Estonia), so a general
designation of Scandinavia
is preferred here. Whatever their exact location, the fact that the Goths
have been noted at all shows that they are a very old tribe - one of the
earliest German tribes to be noted in history.

The details recorded by Pytheas were interpreted by Ptolemy in
the second century AD, and this 1490 Italian reconstruction of
the section covering the British Isles and northern Gaul shows
Ptolemy's characteristically lopsided Scotland at the top

120 - 114 BC

A
large-scale incursion of the sea into
Jutland in this period is
known as the Cimbrian Flood. It permanently alters the shape of the coastline
and drastically affects the way people live in the region. It is probably
this event which affects the
GermanicTeutones in the centre
of the peninsula (modern
Denmark) and
their northern neighbours, the
Cimbri, enough to force
them into a southwards migration. It may also be this event which begins a
population shift in southern Sweden
which itself eventually triggers the migration of the Goths into central
Europe.

c.100 - 10 BC

The
migration of Goths from Sweden to the
southern shores of the Baltic seems to start in this period. In 10 BC the
Cotini are first mentioned
in history, in the Elogium of Tusculum, an inscription found in the
town of that name to the south of
Rome.
By the very existence of its
Germanic name which has the same roots as that of the Goths, that tribe
would appear to gain a Germanic warrior elite which would most likely be
Gothic in origin.

The Roman historians, Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder, name the Baltic
Sea the 'Codanus Sinus' (Codan waterway), which is the deity form 'Godan'
of which Wotan is a cognate, and the tribal name 'Goth' is also a cognate.
Perhaps surprisingly therefore, 'Codanus' equates either to 'Wotan' or
'Goth'. Are the Goths so regionally dominant in this period that even the
Baltic Sea should bear their name? (See the feature link in the introduction
for a more detailed exploration of Wotan as Odin.)

AD 23

The
first historical mention of the
Lugii is by Strabo, who seems
to place them as members of a tribal federation which includes the Butones
(a questionable name, perhaps a misspelling of
Gutones - the Cotini again),
Mugilones,
Semnones,
Sibini and
Zumi.

c.50 - 150

Traditionally, and also according to the sixth century
Byzantine historian,
Jordanes, King Berig leads three shiploads of his people from their
homeland in southern Sweden
to the Pomeranian region
of later Poland.
There, his Goths defeat the
Rugii (Ulmerugi), driving
them off and occupying their lands (the Rugii themselves have only just
arrived, migrating probably from
Norway). Then the Goths
subdue the neighbouring
Vandali.

The mouth of the Vistula in the first century AD was an
ideal route for settlement for groups coming south from
Scandinavia, but also for groups migrating along the coast
such as the speculated movement of Venedi Celts

The
generally peaceful arrival of the Gothic people on the southern Baltic
shores in the first and second centuries AD (once they have cleared some
land for their own use and made sure that the neighbours are cooperative)
has a great impact on the population of
Baltic peoples there,
resulting in them shifting towards eastern
Lithuania.

In all probability, due to the ethnic affinity of these peoples, Germanics
and Balts, peaceful relations are established. The appearance of various
new groups of pottery testifies to the further merging of these ethnic
groupings. The Scandinavian
Willenberg
culture which follows the line of the Vistula south from Pomerania replaces
the native Oksywie culture and is the earliest archaeological evidence for
the Goths. To their north are the
Gepids, with the
Venedi to the east,
the Burgundiones and
Lugii to the south, and
the Suevi and the displaced
Rugii to the west.

fl c.50?

Berig

Leader of the
Goths who left Scandinavia.

?

Name unknown.
Ruled the Goths in Gothiscandza.

?

Name unknown.
Ruled the Goths in Gothiscandza.

?

Name unknown.
Ruled the Goths in Gothiscandza.

Gadaric?
/ Gadareiks

Name uncertain.
Ruled the Goths in Gothiscandza.

Filimer

Son. Fifth
generation king since the settlement.

c.150 - 200

Far
from remaining settled where they are in
Poland, the Goths
gradually renew their migration, now shifting slowly southwards from the Oder
and Vistula, heading on a path that will eventually take them into
Ukraine and the northern
Black Sea coastline, an area known to the ancients as Scythia. Jordanes
states that Filimer leads their first migration, taking them to Lake Maeotis
(the modern Sea of Azov, at the north-eastern corner of the Black Sea). Then
a second migration takes them westwards along the northern Black Sea coast
into Moesia (on the southern bank of the Danube),
Thrace (to the south of Moesia),
and Dacia (north of the Danube). A third migration takes them back into
Scythia.

The initial migration could be caused by pressure from the
Baltic tribes, early segments
of the later Old Prussians
and Lithuanians who are
expanding back into territory they had lost to the
Germanic tribes in the
first century AD. The later bouncing around between Lake Maeotis and the
Danube is less easy to explain, unless the Scythians who dwell
close by Maeotis manage to expel them. Then they are pushed back from the
west (possibly by the
Romans in their
Danubian campaigns in this century), before they finally decide to take control
of the northern Black Sea coast. Three kings of the Goths during this period
remain unnamed in any contemporary record while they appear to draw the
neighbouring Gepids and
Rugii in their wake, along
with the the Scirii, who enter
Galicia in this period. They
soon also dominate the Scythians on their eastern flank.

Migrating to the open steppeland of Ukraine (Scythia to
the ancients, this photo being of Askania-Nova, immediately
to the north of the Crimea) also marked a return by the
Goths to their Indo-European homeland of at least two
thousand years previously, although they wouldn't have
known anything about that

Gepid and
Goth migration is still apparently taking them across areas of central
Poland, including
Galicia and Silesia.
Archaeology shows that the
Willenberg culture
transfers south during this century which, having been associated with
Germanic groups anyway,
serves as evidence of the Goth migration. This merges with the indigenous
Zarubintsy culture in
Ukraine to form the Chernyakhiv
culture. The main body of Goths remains around the Lake Maeotis region at
the north-eastern corner of the Black Sea coast, but it seems that there
is a good deal of straggling, or a process of migratory jumps and rests
along the way by one or more other Goth groups.

Buruista

Possibly confused
with Burebista of the Getae.

c.225 - 250

During
this period the main body of Goths begin to migrate south-westwards (the
'second migration' of Jordanes), entering
Moldavia and western
Ukraine. Defeating the
Spali, they form a loose
hegemony over the tribes of the region, almost certainly including the
Bastarnae. The sixth
century Byzantine
historian, Jordanes, calls this new realm Oium, or Aujum.

c.218 - 249

Nidad

Dates provided
by Mierow.

c.251 - 283

Ovida

Son. Dates provided
by Mierow.

238

One
of the earliest-known raids on
Roman
territory is when the Goths attack and sack Histria, a former Greek colony
on the Black Sea coast near the mouth of the Danube which had been
established by the Milesians in order that they could trade with the Getae
of Thrace. The empire itself
is preoccupied with usurpation in
Africa
and conflict between the Senate and Emperor Maximinus Thrax.

249 - 250

The
Goths attack Marcianopolis (known as Parthenopolis until it had been renamed
by Emperor Trajan after AD 106, and now known as Devnya in modern
Bulgaria) and, under
Kniva's leadership, sack several Balkan cities in the following year.
Marcianopolis' prosperity is ended by the attack and it remains vulnerable
to further barbarian attack thereafter.

fl 250 - 251

Kniva / Cniva

Brother. Chieftain. Led the 'Second Invasion' across
the Danube.

251

Kniva
- claimed as a brother of Ovida and a chieftain, not the ruling king of the
Goths - leads his war party across the Danube to raid districts of Moesia and
Thrace - the first
occasion in which the Goths appear in any detail in the historical record.
Kniva is surprised by
Roman
Emperor Decius while besieging Nicopolis on the Danube. The Goths flee
through the Balkans, but double back and surprise the Romans near Beroë
(modern Stara Zagora). Then they attack Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv in
Bulgaria), which falls
into their hands. Its commander, Titus Julius Priscus, declares himself
emperor under Gothic protection.

The Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus depicts a Roman victory
over Goths around AD 250, but victory in the many Roman-Goth
conflicts of this period was just as likely to go the other way

The
siege has so exhausted the numbers and resources of this vast Goth war party
that it offers to surrender its booty and prisoners on condition of being
allowed to retire unmolested. But Emperor Decius refuses to entertain such
proposals and engages the Goths at the Battle of Abrittus. Decius' army is
annihilated and the emperor is slain. The Goths are eventually defeated by
Aemilianus, Roman governor of Moesia Superior and Pannonia, but are allowed
(and even helped) to leave the empire. This should probably signal the start
of the 'third migration' of the Goths in which they settle more permanently
along the northern Black Sea coast.

267/268 - 269

The
Peucini Bastarnae are
specifically mentioned in the invasion across the
Roman
frontier. Part of the barbarian coalition which includes Goths and
Heruli, they use their
knowledge of boat building from several centuries of living on the Black
Sea coast and in the Danube estuary to help build a fleet in the estuary
of the River Tyras (now the Dniester). The force of which they are part
sails along the coast to Tomis in Moesia Inferior. They attack the town
but are unable to take it. Sailing on, they are frustrated twice more,
at Marcianopolis and Thessalonica in
Macedonia.
Athens
is also attacked, captured, and plundered by the Heruli (in 267-268).
Finally, they move into Thrace where they are crushed by Emperor Claudius
II at Naissus in 269.

The
status of Cannabaudes is uncertain. He is claimed as the king of the Goths,
but his dates clash with those of Ovida given above (and supplied by Mierow).
Possibly he is only a regional chieftain instead, but possibly also the
Goths are already beginning to fracture and divide, and there is no one king
over all their number. If Cannabaudes can be equated with one Cannibas then
this chief is another son of Ovida along with Respa, Ilderic, and Veduc, all
of whom play important roles in subsequent events.

The death of Cannabaudes precipitates a major shift in the balance of power
in Eastern Europe (suggesting that he really is more powerful than a mere
regional chieftain). According to Jordanes the Goths, now in their third
dwelling place along the northern Black Sea coast, have become more civilised
and more learned (an effect of interaction with the various Greek colonies
around the Black Sea coast). The people have become divided under ruling
families, with the western Goths on the western side of the Dniester becoming
known as the Tervingi Goths. The eastern Goths to the east of the Sea of Azov
are becoming the Greutungi Goths. The Tervingi are governed by the family
of the Balthi or Balti, while the Greutungi serve the renowned Amali
family.

The appearance of the Gepids
to fill the vacuum drives a wedge between the Tervingi Goths and the
Greutungi Goths. The Tervingi consolidate their realm between the Dniester
and the Danube and become known to the
Romans
as the Visigoths. The
Greutungi, or Ostrogoths, remain
to the east of the Dniester, in what is now eastern
Ukraine and southern
Russia.

The Germanic Ostrogoths
(meaning eastern Goths),
dominated a vast swathe of what is now southern
Russia and
Ukraine by the mid-third
century. In the Old
English
epic poem Widsith, the
Ostrogoths are known as the Hreğ-Gotum or Hreiğgoths ('Victory Goths').
According to Jordanes they became more civilised and more learned after
settling this region, probably thanks to interaction with the
Eastern Romans. The Goths
themselves gradually formed tribal divisions which were under the control
of ruling families. The western Goths on the western side of the Dniester
(which empties into the Black Sea near Odessa) became known as the Tervingi
Goths. The eastern Goths to the east of the Sea of Azov became the Greutungi
Goths. The Tervingi (Thervingi or Teruingi) were governed by the family of
the Balthi or Balti, while the Greutungi served the renowned Amali family.

With the death of the great Gothic chief (or king) Cannabaudes around AD
271, the Gepids were able
to take the opportunity to grab some of the territory occupied by the Goths.
Migrating eastwards themselves, they drove a wedge between the Tervingi
Goths and the Greutungi Goths. The Tervingi consolidated their western
realm between the Dniester and the Danube and became known to the
Romans
as the Visigoths,
commanded by Ilderic, son of one of the last universal Goth kings, Ovida.
The Greutungi, or Ostrogoths, remained to the east of the Dniester (and
presumably to the east of the Sea of Azov too), in what is now eastern
Ukraine and southern
Russia. Their king was
Respa, brother of Ilderic.

Their settlements there did not remain untroubled for long. After AD 372
they were forced west by the
Hunnic invasion, and were
later enslaved by those very same Huns. From this point until the death
of Attila, nearly a hundred years later, little is known of the Ostrogoths
other than what Jordanes can relate. However, it is certain that the vast
majority of them remained relatively loyal vassals of their Hunnic
overlords. They formed a significant contingent of Attila's army, and
at the Battle of Châlons in 451 found themselves on the opposite side to
their Visigothic cousins
who were serving as allies of Aëtius, the
Roman patrician.
Although the battle was inconclusive, in effect the Huns were defeated,
but it was not until Attila's death two years later that the Hunnic
empire collapsed and the Ostrogoths were free to go on their way.

In the subsequent redistribution of power, the Ostrogoths (still led by
the Amali family) found themselves in possession of Pannonia (roughly
modern western Hungary,
and parts of countries in a line from
Austria to
Bosnia) as
Eastern Romanfoederati. But this was an unsettled period, leaving the
Ostrogoths with hostile neighbours on all sides and forcing them to
become increasingly dependant upon subsidies from their new masters in
Constantinople. In 474 Theodoric, son of King Thiudimir, rose to become
the ruler of his people. He led them out of the unpromising lands in which
they had settled and moved them into Moesia, close to Constantinople itself.
Only a fragment of the Greutungi Ostrogoths remained behind where they
formed their own small kingdom and became known as Tauric Ostrogoths.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward
Dawson, from The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, Jordanes, from
The Barbarians: Warriors & Wars of the Dark Ages, Tim Newark
(Blandford Press, 1985), and from External Links:
Widsith (full text on the Internet Archive), and
GEN-MEDIEVAL Archives (Rootsweb Ancestry.com.).)

fl c.270s

Respa

Son of Ovida.
First ruler of the Ostrogoths after their division.

268

While
probably prominent throughout the 270s, Respa is responsible for a raid in
268 upon which he is accompanied by Veduc and Thuruar. It is not entirely
clear whether the latter two are co-rulers or deputies, as they are all
lumped in together as kings by Jordanes, but at least two of them are
supposedly brothers of Ilderic, first king of the
Visigoths, and all are
sons of Ovida, one of the last universal Goth kings. During the reign of
Roman
Emperor Gallienus, the Goths board their ships and mount a raid on the
Hellespont. They lay waste to many cities and set fire to the Temple of
Artemis at Ephesus (now in
Turkey).

fl c.270s

Veduc / Veduca

Brother. Co-ruler or deputy during the time of Respa?

fl c.270s

Thuruar

Co-ruler or deputy during the time of Respa?

270s

Following this raid, the Ostrogoths drift out of the historical record for
up to seventy years or so as they lay down roots and build the basis of the
later domain of Ermanaric. The death of
Cannabaudes of the Goths
around this time precipitates a major shift in the balance of power in
Eastern Europe, which is responsible for this sudden cessation of Gothic
piracy on the Black Sea as the Goths have to cope with a Gepid invasion of
sorts and the division of their own people into Tervingi-led
Visigoths around the
Danube and Greutungi-led Ostrogoths who remain to the east of the Dniester.

The
names of kings of the Ostrogoths and Visigoths
contains at least two crossovers during the late third and early fourth
centuries, suggesting perhaps that the divisions are not quite so divided
after all until the coming of the
Huns. It is
possible, given the approximate dates for Geberic, that he rules both groups
until the rise of Ermanaric re-establishes the division between Visigoth and
Ostrogoth.

fl c.330s - c.376

Ermanaric /
Ermanarich / Aírmanareiks

Killed himself as the
Ostrogothic kingdom was overrun.

c.330s - 360s

Ermanaric
(or variously, Eormanric, Ermanaricus, Hermanaric, Hermanerich, Jörmunrekkr, or
Ermeric) is the great warrior-king of the Goths who subdues the surrounding
Germanic
peoples, subsequently leaving them to observe their own laws and rulers on the
condition that they pay homage to him. By these means, Ermanaric becomes the
head of a confederation which Jordanes, a bureaucrat in the
Byzantine capital of Constantinople in the sixth century, believes to
include all the tribes of Germany and Scythia, covering a vast territory in
what is now
Ukraine and areas of southern
Russia. He
calls the realm Oium, or Aujum. Included in this number are probably the
Visigoths.

In the face of an unstoppable and destructive Hunnic invasion,
Ermanaric's final act was a (probably) ritualistic death
ceremony in which he ended his own life

372

The Huns cross the River Volga which empties into the Caspian Sea. They
burst into Scythia and stir up a wave of rumours and horror stories which
sweep through Europe, and reach the ears of the
Romans by 376.
They clash with a group of steppe people called the
Alani, defeating them. The
Alani have little choice but to become Hunnic allies.

c.376

In
extreme old age, Ermanaric finds his dominions wasted by the
Huns as they overrun the
Ostrogoths in their westwards push. His strength is enfeebled by a
combination of age and by a wound in his side, given to him by two brothers who
have avenged a sister's cruel death. Pained by the destruction of all that he
has built, he kills himself in the face of the Hunnic advance across Eastern
Europe (possibly in a ritualistic manner as his final act). The Huns subjugate
the Ostrogoths and their allies, the
Rugii and
Heruli, and their vassals or
mercenary sources, such as the
Venedi (the 'Venethi'
or 'Venethae' are associated with the Ostrogoths - and specifically with
Hermanerich - by Jordanes). In doing so they create a vast kingdom of their
own which survives until the death of Attila in 453.

c.376 - c.380

Vinithar
/ Winithar / Vinitharius

Last free Ostrogoth ruler, now in Pannonia.

c.376

The
last ruler of the Ostrogoths for generations to remain free of
Hunnic vassalage, Vinithar
leads the free remnants of his people to Pannonia where they apparently
resist the Huns for a few brief years. Associated with Vinithar by Jordanes
are the second of three great groups of professional warriors, an early
Slavic tribal polity known as the Antes (the others being the
Venedi and the
yet-to-be-instituted Sclaveni warriors, the later Slavs).

Vinithar's name is curious. It is commonly formed of three elements, 'vinith',
plus '-ar', plus '-ius'. The first part, 'vinith' refers to the Venedi. The
'-ius' is a Latin suffix which can be discarded, so the name was probably
pronounced Winithara in East
Germanic. The second element,
'-ar', may just be indicating action, a doer (essentially describing him as
a warrior in the style of the Venedi), or perhaps a compressed form of 'uari',
meaning 'man of, men of' (perhaps producing 'man of the Venedi').

This implies that 'Vinith' has evolved to become the name of a military style
of warrior. Since the Venedi style of travel is by water (their whole process
of settlement has been driven by their exploration of river courses), an
educated guess is that a 'vinith' is a boat-borne fighter. The early description
of Slavs as boat-using raiders seems to occur because they have learned this
from Venedi fighters amongst whom they had been stationed by their masters, the
Avars. Naming Vinithar this way
might be akin to a modern child being called 'SASer' or 'Navy Sealer' in the first
instance or 'man of the SAS' in the second, although clearly this concept has lost
something over time!

Radagaisus,
a barbarian leader of unknown origin, and his army of Goths,
Vandali,
Suevi,
Burgundians, and
Alani is defeated by
Roman commander Stilicho
when they invade Italy in 405.
The barbarians are incorporated into the Roman forces.

To preserve their new domains, the
Visigoths fight on
the side of Rome and the
Franks to
halt the advance of the Huns
at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (otherwise known as the Battle of Chalons
in the former territory of the
CatalauniCelts), in
north-eastern Gaul. Their cousins, the Ostrogoths (literally, in the case
of King Valamir whose cousin is Thorismund) are forced to fight on the
side of the Huns. The Hunnic army is fought to a standstill and is forced
to withdraw along with its allies which also include the
Gepids,
Rugii, and
Scirii.

Despite his great success over the barbarian tribes of eastern
and central Europe, Attila's stalemate against an allied
Roman-led army in 451 was a blow to his prestige, and his death
soon afterwards caused his empire to crumble

456 - 457

In their fight for independence from the Huns,
the Ostrogoths under Valamir defeat and rout Attila's sons. They inherit control of Pannonia
as a result (essentially western
Hungary,
northern
Croatia,
Slovenia, and eastern
Austria), and absorb elements
from other, smaller tribes, such as the
Scirii. During the subsequent thirty years, the Ostrogoths
edge slowly southwards into the Balkans, and then head westwards towards
Illyria and the borders of Italy.

459 - 462

Unchallenged by the now-dissipated power of the
Huns, the
Ostrogoths under Valamir are themselves powerful. A dispute with the
Eastern
Roman emperor at Constantinople causes Valamir to lead his Ostrogoths
against him. With the barbarians at the gates, Emperor Leo I agrees to pay
an annual subsidy of gold.

468 - 474

Thiudimir /
Theodomar / Theodemir

Brother-in-law.

474

Spending much of his youth at the imperial court at Constantinople,
Theodoric gains a thoroughly
Roman education. This includes the areas of
administrative and military tactics, and he rises to become magister
militum in 483 and consul in 484. He returns to live with the Ostrogoths
in 488.

The
Scirian commander of
Rome, Odoacer, destroys the
Rugii tribe, who are long-time
allies of the Ostrogoths. This allows a future threat for
Italy, the
Langobards, to migrate into
their territory in Lower Austria.

489

The
Ostrogoths are now largely settled in Moesia, distancing them from the
remaining Ostrogoths who have remained further east, in the Crimean
peninsula. These 'remainers' become known to history as the Tauric
Ostrogoths. The main body, though, while nominally
Eastern
Roman allies, is problematic at best. Their restlessness is creating
increasing problems in their management for Emperor Zeno. Working with Theodoric
to find a solution, the emperor invites him to invade
Italy and overthrow
Odoacer, the troublesome
Gothic
viceroy there. The remains of the
Rugii
join them and soon become indivisible from the Ostrogoths. The Ostrogoths
immediately win the Battle of Isonzo on 28 August 489, close to Aquileia,
and Odoacer is forced to withdraw. A second battle is fought at Verona in
the same year.

490 - 493

A
further battle is fought on the River Adda in 490, and in 493 Theodoric
takes Ravenna. On 2 February the same year, Theodoric and Odoacer sign a
treaty that divides Italy between them, but at a banquet to celebrate the
terms, Theodoric murders Odoacer with his own hands. Now unopposed, he is
able to found an Ostrogothic kingdom based in
Rome.

Ostrogothic Kingdom of ItalyAD 493 - 552

Theodoric led the Ostrogothic invasion
of Italy (supported by
elements of the
Rugii). During the course of four years of fighting, the
invasion swept away Odoacer's Post-Imperial Romano-Gothic kingdom.
In its place Theodoric created an Ostrogothic kingdom which held much of Italy until
Byzantium
began a re-conquest of the western empire in southern Italy. Despite the fact
that the invasion had been devised by Emperor Zeno, the Ostrogoths ruled independently,
and Theodoric and Zeno addressed each other as equals. Overtures to Byzantium were
only made by some Ostrogoth leaders after Theodoric's death.

A Roman consul was given nominal authority, and the two peoples lived
together amicably, with Roman culture
greatly influencing the barbarians. The Goths took one third of the land
while the Romans retained the rest. Each side observed their own laws and
intermarriage between Roman and Goth was forbidden. One area in which they
didn't agree was in Christianity. The Ostrogoths were confirmed Arians,
something that the Catholics of the
Roman Church found hard to stomach.

Not all the Ostrogoths pursued this path into Italy and eventual
Italianisation. A branch known as the Tauric Ostrogoths ventured further
eastwards, ending up in Crimea by the end of the fifth century. They settled
in the region and established an East
Germanic Gothic principality which
was
later known as Doros. Additionally, some elements of the Gothic peoples in southern Germany formed
part of the
Bavarii confederation at the start of the sixth century.

Theodoric asks the
Eastern Roman emperor for permission to wear the purple, but
this is refused. After he seizes Ravenna and is proclaimed king of the Goths
in 493 the position changes. In 497 Anastasius sends back the western
imperial regalia which Constantinople had received in 476. Theodoric
nevertheless continues to be titled rex.

An example of the coinage minted in Italy during the reign of
Theodoric

500

Theodoric arranges a dynastic marriage between his sister, Amalafrida, and
the weak Thrasamund of the
Vandali. It is part of the process by which the Ostrogothic king is
extending his influence through the various
Germanic kingdoms of Western
Europe and Africa. The arrangement ends Thrasamund's attempts to raid
Ostrogothic territories, and the might of the ruler of
Italy is underlined
when a guard of 5,000 men arrive with Amalafrida.

504

Gepid power suffers a decisive blow when the Ostrogoths cut off the
expansion of the kingdom of Gepidia into the Danubian plains. This forces
the Gepids to restrict themselves to the Pannonian basin.

early 6th century

According to Jordanes, Roduulf rules the Ranii in
Norway until, apparently
despising his own kingdom, he flees to join Theodoric. There are signs of
cross-European communications and some trading during this period, despite
migrations and shifting tribal associations, so perhaps the idea of a
Scandinavian king travelling to
Rome to join
the famous Ostrogoths is not so surprising.

509 - 526

Theodoric intervenes at Narbonne, driving out both
Visigoths and
Burgundians. This forces the
Franks
and Burgundians to withdraw from the Mediterranean coast. The following year
the Ostrogoths defeat Gesalec in battle and he flees. After a year spent in
Aquitaine
to gather his forces, Gesalec makes another attempt to recapture Narbonne. He loses a second battle and is soon captured by the Ostrogoths.
Theodoric assumes the Visigothic crown until his death in 526, nominally
acting as regent for the infant Amalaric who
is able to take his rightful place as king after Theodoric's death.

526 - 534

Athalaric

Grandson, aged
10. Son of Eutharic.

526 - 534

Amalasuntha

Regent and mother. Murdered by her cousin.

533

The
last known decree to be issued by the Roman Senate concerns the practice of
preferment, the purchase or sale of offices, which is rife in the
Roman Church. The
practice is banned under Pope Boniface's pontificate and confirmed by Athalaric.

534/535

Amalasuntha
is imbibed with traditional Roman learning, and during the regency had tried
to pass on her teachings to her son, Athalaric. With his early death she is
now sole queen, and she raises the unpopular and elderly Theodatus as her
co-ruler. The Gothic nobles turn against her, and Theodatus imprisons her on
the island of Martana in Lake Bolsena in Tuscany, where she is murdered in
her bath. Theodatus does not last long as sole ruler himself.

534 - 536

Theodatus /
Theodahad

Nephew of
Theodoric. Killed on the orders of Vittigis.

535 - 536

After the death of Theodoric, Ostrogothic control in
Italy
had never been quite so complete. The disruption has increased to such an
extent that in 535 the
Eastern Roman
empire sends General Belisarius to conquer the peninsula and bring it back
under imperial control. In 536, General Belisarius enters
Rome shortly before it is
besieged by King Vittigis. The city suffers starvation until the siege is
lifted and Belisarius pursues his opponents. The Goths are subjugated in the
same year, and around this time Provence is lost to Italian control, with probably the
Burgundians
being responsible.

There is a bewildering succession of rulers in this period and Theobald is
perhaps the most uncertain. He is sometimes claimed as ruling between 536,
shortly after his murder of Amalasuntha, to 540, or just in 540 alone. He is
presumed to have entered Italy with Theodoric and must be fairly elderly by
this time, and his rule is cut short when he is killed by a fellow Goth
(claimed as being Vittigis, which somewhat confuses matters as the pair of
them would appear to have been simultaneously ruling as sole king. This may
be due to some confusion creeping in between Theobald and Theodatus).

At last blessed with a strong and determined ruler once again, the
Ostrogoths under Baduila immediately collect together to throw off a badly
organised
Byzantine
attack on their stronghold at Verona. Baduila is determined to win back
control of Italy in the face of the creeping Byzantine conquest.

542 - 544

The Ostrogoths win the Battle of Faventia (modern Faenza) in spring 542, but
very quickly an even greater success aids them. Shortly after the 'Plague of
Justinian' strikes Constantinople with the arrival of bubonic plague, it
quickly spreads to Italy. The
Byzantine empire
is devastated by it, and is critically weakened at the point at which it is
about to conquer all of Italy and bring it under the rule of one Roman
emperor for the first time since 395.

Baduila besieged Perugia in 543 and successfully won the town's
surrender

545 - 546

After sacking and razing the walls of
Benevento in 545, the
following year the Ostrogoths recapture
Rome
under the leadership of Baduila (his real name rather than the
Byzantine
version, Totila, which is coined by Procopius). An attempt by the much
larger Byzantine forces to relieve it narrowly fails and it is sacked by the
otherwise merciful and disciplined Ostrogoths. However, they withdraw to
Apulia and the see-saw battles continue, with the Ostrogoths generally
avoiding the strongly-defended cities.

552 - 553

Teias / Theia
/ Teja

Former military
officer. Last king of the
Ostrogoths. Killed.

552

The death of Totila at the Battle of Taginae allows Rome
to be retaken by
Byzantium,
which governs Italy from
Ravenna.
A final defeat in battle near Mount Vesuvius in 553 means the death of the
last Ostrogothic
king and the end of their rule in Italy. The city of
Rome
remains under domination by Byzantium until the eighth century but a civil
government slowly emerges to take control of
Roman regional
affairs in the late ninth century, often vying for power with the pope

The Ostrogoths as a fighting body march out of Italy to join
other barbarian groups north of the Alps, most probably the
Bavarii
confederation, where they quickly lose their identity as a separate people.
Their
Rugii supporters also disappear at this time, probably following the
Ostrogoths to join the confederation which already contains Rugii elements.
In Italy, an Ostrogothic noble called Widin leads a revolt in the late 550s,
but he is captured in 561 or 562. The remaining Goths in the country eventually
merge into the general Italian population, becoming indivisible from them. However, the
Visigoths
and Tauric Ostrogoths still retain an independent identity.